It sounds like science fiction to suggest that every cell in the human body is occupied by a tiny genome-equipped organelle, with which we exist in symbiosis. But in actuality, eukaryotic life is dependent on mitochondria, ...

Jody Kearns doesn't like to spend time obsessing about her Parkinson's disease. The 56-year-old dietitian from Syracuse, New York, had to give up bicycling because the disorder affected her balance. But she still works, drives ...

Diseases like Alzheimer's are caused when proteins aggregate and clump together. In a world first, EPFL scientists have successfully distinguished between the disease-causing aggregation forms of proteins. The finding can ...

Peanuts are big - big business that is. According to the National Peanut Board, Americans spend about $800 million a year on peanut butter, and peanuts contribute more than $4 billion a year to the US economy.

To help address the global obesity epidemic, scientists are developing a new class of compounds called "micelle sequestrant polymers," or MSPs, that could prevent fat particles from getting absorbed in the body and thus potentially ...

In the U.S. and other industrialized nations, testing for infectious diseases and cancer often requires expensive equipment and highly trained specialists. In countries where resources are limited, performing the same diagnostics ...

The middle classes from developing countries are more susceptible than western Caucasians to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in today's changing environment. New research published today in Cell Metabolism ...

Disease

A disease or medical problem is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as invading organisms, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases.

In human beings, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes extreme pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories.